featherfoot | PSL - Felih and Rihnn go to the First...

PSL - Felih and Rihnn go to the First...

And it's not right.

P'rihnn is honestly not sure what happened. One moment he had been fighting Zenos - or rather, Elidibus in Zenos' skin - and the next he was here. He vaguely remembers being hit by a powerful headache and seeing Elidibus approach him as if for a decisive blow, but the voice that had called him didn't seem quite the same as before. Was this how it had been for the others? For the Scions? Did his body lie on the ground in the Ghimlyt Dark, soul torn away? And for this?

He looks around his surroundings, frown growing deeper and deeper as he realises he hasn't the slightest clue where he is. There is no place he knows with such dense, purple foliage... and the light shining down on him is strangely oppressive, though he can't say why.

Fortunately he can see a nearby structure, and what looks like it might be a path. He can vaguely make out something beyond the trees, too, so... that way, then. After checking to make sure he still has his chakrams, just in case, P'rihnn makes his way to the wooden structure, looking around him to see if he can spy someone he can question.

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"...I just don't know how much I trust any of this," Felih murmurs quietly, but P'rihnn's attempt to cheer him up does coax a smile onto his lips, even if it's weak.

"Though, I suppose you're right. Two Warriors of Light are better than one," he replies, relaxing just a little. Still, he does manifest a carbuncle- a huge golden topaz one easily the size of a coeurl, which gives a big stretch before it yips and goes to dutifully stand guard at the door to their chambers.

"Let's try to get some rest, and hopefully tomorrow we can... try hunting down more information about these Wardens."

(Unfortunately for P'rihnn, he will soon discover Felih is quite a cuddler in his sleep. Curling up close and cozy- or attempting to, anyway, subconscious as the motions are.)

After an uncomfortable night for P’rihnn, who really doesn’t enjoy cuddles from people he likes never mind people he’s only just met, the pair set to finding out more about the Wardens. P’rihnn supposes they could have asked the Exarch for more information, but he had no intention of speaking to him if he didn’t have to. Besides, he had a feeling that if the Exarch had wanted to stop them from going to fight the Warden, he would have.

People did try to dissuade them, but endless warnings were not enough for either of them, and soon enough he and Felih were on a long trek through Lakeland, following reports of gathering Sin Eaters near the border to... Amh Araeng, if he recalls the name correctly. It doesn’t take them long to find them.

“Shite!”

Somehow, he had managed to draw the attention of six of the damn things! At least he was prepared for a fight!

"You just wandered right into their midst, didn't you," comes Felih's mildly amused commentary as he rushes up from behind him, chakrams already out and glowing with aether. He sends them flying, already getting to work dancing, magic spiraling off of him as he moves and attacks.

He's very attentive, ears up and alert, and he's careful not to get in the way of P'rihnn's dancing either, trying to prevent any missteps that might get them tangled up. At the very least, these smaller Eaters were easy to cluster up, which means they were that much easier to attack at once.

"These things make my skin crawl the way Voidsent do," he growls, bristling as he lashes out and strikes another of the beings. "They just feel sickeningly wrong."

“Best way to get it done!” P’rihnn calls back, quickly recovering from that moment of surprise and twirling away from the group to get himself in a better position and allow Felih the chance to attack. They chased after him in their clear hunger, gathering together in a cluster for him to charge back in and dance in a flurry of blades.

Though it’s the same dance, and P’rihnn is sure they must have learned from the same source and in the same way, Felih’s movements seem rather more graceful than his own, even in combat. It’s almost distracting, but not enough for him to make short work of the lesser sin eaters, leaving them dissolving into light on the ground.

“It’s like...” he says, trying to place what they remind him of. “Like some sort of... like they’re porcelain, and insect-like at the same time... and they feel wrong.” Another one approaches swiftly, but P’rihnn doesn’t bat an eye as he slices it across the midsection. “And I can definitely feel something very wrong, and it’s close.”

Felih is curiously taking the occasional glance at P'rihnn, watching the way he moves- and though P'rihnn's dance is more grounded and forceful, he can tell they learned from the same place. If anything, it just reminds him of the fact that they're reflections, that they must have experienced so many things similarly, in their own respective worlds... It just makes him curious as to what made Felih Felih, and what made P'rihnn into P'rihnn.

"That's... the perfect way to describe it, actually," Felih says with a few pants as they take a brief pause after the first group dissipates into light. "Hollow and empty. Even voidsent seem more... alive, don't they, than Sin Eaters?"

With that, he starts to dart further into the Sin Eater nest, chakrams and magic flying freely as he takes on anything in his sight, determined to clear out the most resistance he can before they reach the Warden. The more they can take out now, the less he has to worry about reinforcements later...

“These are dead inside,” P’rihnn agrees, charging after Felih, picking off any additional Sin Eaters that rush them or come up from behind. They are getting closer, now, he’s certain... that same strange, oppressive feeling he gets from the bright sky above seems to be growing stronger, sitting heavily upon him.

It’s so close... soon enough, that feeling becomes almost unbearable, and he slows down. “Where is it...?” he asks, voice low. It’s absolutely close by, and Felih must feel it too.

As they get closer to the horrid source of corrupted aether Felih can sense, he gets quieter, his movements silent as he creeps and stalks through the rocky crags of the mountain, ears up and alert. It's so close, he can feel it, just like P'rihnn- and the moment he can pinpoint its source, he freezes.

"There," he breathes softly, eyes glued to an overhang of rock that leaves the area beneath in shadow.

It truly looks as monstrous as it feels... It's so close, and it has already sensed their intrusion, the creature thrashing across the mountainous undergrowth and stone towards them. The strange, chimaeric creature is already intent on slaughtering them, and Felih leaps aside to try and split its attention between P'rihnn and himself.

"It's huge!" comes his shout of shock, as he starts his assault with magic and chakrams alike. "Hells- it completely leveled the stone!"

The beast’s aether is so corrupted it feels as though the air itself is stagnating, to the point P’rihnn almost feels sick. However, he quickly moves, away from Felih, leaving it flailing as it tries to assault both at once. “We’ll be fine!” he shouts back, dancing away from the chains that swing dangerously towards his legs. “It’s as mindless as the rest, just bigger!”

At least, it seems to be a mindless brute! It throws itself around with all of its weight, alternating between using it’s gargantuan fists and swinging its hefty tail in an effort to beat them down. It’s faster than it looks, but still P’rihnn is able to dance away from it with ease, reacting both to his own senses and to the echo before it can deal too much damage.

This thing... every time it tries to strike them, it leaves craters in the rocky ground.

Fortunately, he is able to not only keep a distance between himself and it, as it is assaulted on both sides with their aetherically augmented dances and chakram blades, it doesn’t seem to know which of its prey it should devour first. If P’rihnn can hold its attention, it should give Felih an opening!

P'rihnn's shout snaps him out of his moment of anxiety, and he nods before leaping forward and getting to work. He's moving quickly, movements sharp and piercing, throwing the aether-infused blades over and over again as they slam spells right against the beast's body. It lets him poison it, weaken it, lets him slow it down as he works away at it.

He's never been so glad to be as swift as he is: with the beast leaving craters everywhere it strikes, it's crucial for him to be able to dodge and leap out of the way of such pummeling. Between the two of them, at least, it's much easier to handle. Mindless as it is, it cannot seem to decide which of them to focus on for long, and soon he spots an opening his partner makes for him.

Perfect!

He manages to send a chakram flying and blasting right into the back of the beast's skull, splitting the flesh before Felih recalls the weapon and launches the other one right at it.

"Go for its head!"

“Right!”

The beast’s deafening roar feels as though it shakes the ground nearly as much as its pounding fists, but P’rihnn doesn’t let it distract him. Its attention drawn away from him by Felih’s chakrams, he takes the opening, his own bladed chakrams slashing through flesh and bone with a sickening and unnatural cracking sound.

Between him and Felih’s assault on its skull, it can’t possibly keep the fight up much longer - had it been a regular beast and not this monstrous thing, it would surely have fallen already.

It’s getting weaker, P’rihnn is sure. Its blows were never accurate to begin with, split between two targets, but now it looks as though it’s not even making a token effort to aim.

Just one more good hit. One more good hit.

Felih channels everything he has into his chakrams, unleashing a blast and flurry of aether and blades, and with P'rihnn's attacks bolstering his, the beast falls. It roars and writhes and then starts to crack- and then bursts into a rush of light.

The blinding aether makes Felih flinch before he watches as the aether swirls around the two of them, as if it cannot decide which to seek. They'd heard that whoever slays a Lightwarden often becomes corrupted by the light it releases, but...

Felih's bristling and anxious, not sure what to expect. But if this is Light, then...

He reaches out with a hand and accepts some of the Light, feeling it rush into him, and... nothing happens. He feels fine. He looks down at his hands, and then looks himself over. It doesn't feel like he's being turned into an Eater.

"Huh. Are you feeling well, P'rihnn?" he calls over to his companion, confused.

Worn out and worried he might be, as the beast bursts into light and dissipates in the air, P’rihnn still takes a moment to celebrate victory, spinning his chakrams and stretching out his body before turning his attention to his ally. Is he well? He can certainly feel the aether, and the light was so visible, but... he frowns.

“I’m fine,” he confirms, but he knows why Felih is puzzled. “I... expected to be fine, after all I’ve - we’ve - already been through, but I still expected something more than this...” He had assumed it would be something not entirely unlike a Primal’s tempering, wondered whether the Echo would give him protection from the Light as well and whether it was their blessing that had caught the Exarch’s interest, so perhaps he shouldn’t be surprised, but... for the beast to simply be gone feels a little anti-climactic.

Is that all?

He sighs, and returns his chakrams to his hips, looking up to the bright sky that was a constant reminder how far he is from home. He does not expect what he sees - a strange, dark ripple in the otherwise unbroken light.

“Hey...” he says, still staring upwards, trying to direct Felih’s attention.

"I... had expected worse to happen, truly," Felih admits, but he tends to be paranoid and anxious by nature, even if he tries not to show it. He starts to dust himself off and stretch, relaxing as he realizes the immediate threat seems to be gone, and looking up at the sky makes him pause in awe.

"The night sky," he murmurs, stunned at the sight of it breaking through the mantle of light. "Was the Lightwarden the anchor for the Light, here?" he asks, before looking at his hand and then back to the sky. "To pull apart the mantle... could we control it?" Before even waiting for a response, his hand moves towards the sky, and a burst of aether rushes out of him and towards the sky, starting to tear at the layer of light.

"P'rihnn, help me out here-" he calls, meeting some resistance.

Though there’s no need to be closer, P’rihnn approaches Felih’s side, wide eyes still fixed upwards in awe - he can see the burst of aether tearing at the light, the dark ripples expanding and revealing a starlit sky. Felih is not enough on his own, and stood by his partner’s side P’rihnn thrusts his own hand skyward, their combined energies bursting through the light and ripping a great divide through it.

The light parts, and it’s... stunning.

“We...” he says, but whatever he had to say is already forgotten.

Felih never thought he'd be so stunned and awed to see the night sky. He sees the light parting at their command, the two of them able to pull it aside as if they were merely curtains over the realm. It's strange- off in the distance, he can still see the Light covering the land, but at least here in Lakeland, the Light has been quelled, allowing for darkness.

"That... let's get back before any more Eaters show up," he finally says, although he stays put for a while despite it, a bit lost in thought. He's quiet for a few long moments, just staring at the sky, but then he murmurs, "I bet folk at the Crystarium are pretty surprised right now."

His tail is quivering a little. "Hopefully the sudden dark didn't startle them too much. Hells, do they even have lamps, now that I think on it...?"

“It’s been a hundred years, hasn’t it?” P’rihnn says, and he still finds himself unable to look away. They have just tore a hole in the oppressive light, and revealed the night sky as it was always supposed to be - the same night sky he saw at home. “People have grown up never seeing the night sky, not even as children... but they know what it is. It shouldn’t scare them” He hopes...

Seeing that Felih is not only awed, but still distracted and worried, thinking about lamps, he nudges him slightly with his elbow.

“Get hit so hard you’re seeing stars?” he asks.

The elbow startles him, but his ears perk up to better hear his companion. And then there's a pause, a stunned moment where the terrible pun truly sinks in, and Felih just loses it.

He starts to laugh, and then laughs harder, and harder, tears in his eyes before he altogether just lets himself stumble over and down onto the ground, where he lies on his back and looks up at the sky. The pure relief rushes over him like a welcome wave, the tension easing out of him as he realizes that they're out of immediate danger. His laughing slowly dies down, as he wipes tears from his eyes, still beaming up at his partner.

"T-Twelve... that was a horrid pun," he says, still trying to stifle some giggles.

His light joke appears to have the desired effect, and Felih breaking down into laughter is almost contagious - he gives a small, triumphant laugh before seating himself down on the ground with a little hop, leaning back on his hands and looking up to the stars.

“Got through your worrying, didn’t it? Mission accomplished!”

Felih just grins and slowly sits up, playfully bumping his shoulder against P'rihnn's before he just looks up at the sky.

"Never thought I'd be so glad to see the stars," he says with another small laugh, a tiny purr kicking up in his chest. "Hells. If nothing else, at least we've done that," he says, gesturing to the dark, shimmering sky. "That's progress, right?"

To drive back a flood of light seemed daunting, but if they could keep this up, hunting down the Lightwardens... hopefully, it should be... well, a simple affair, provided they don't get slaughtered. Still, things are hardly ever simple for him, are they?

“The Crystarium will probably be in chaos when we get back, but we fought the light and won,” P’rihnn says. “Even if it’s just in Lakeland.”

He lets himself drop back, lying flat on the ground to stargaze, clearly intent on staying out here a little longer before they journey back to the Crystarium - it doesn’t matter much to him if more monsters find them if he can have this moment.

“...I wonder... is this what he means us to do? The Exarch?” he wonders aloud. “He wanted you specifically, didn’t he?”

"I suppose so," Felih murmurs. "He did say that he wanted to save this world from the Light. And we've pushed it back- even if just from Lakeland. If we can keep this up... well, what little is left of this realm might be able to continue living on."

"Still... I wish he would be more open with us. It's hard to trust anything right now, and though I know this is meant to prevent a Calamity, a Rejoining, I can't help but wonder what else there is to the story. Is there truly no one in this realm with the Blessing of Light, who could slay the beasts in our place?"

A small sigh.

"...do you really think Ardbert and his friends were the last? We never did find out what happened to them..."

“People see the Warriors of Light as the villains here,” P’rihnn reminds him. “And with the state of things, I’m not sure if there’s any who has the Blessing of Light. And if everyone who fights these things end up taking their place...”

Still, Felih raises a good point, and he sighs. Why Felih, and not another?

“I’m going to have to beat the answers out of him, aren’t I?”

"As villains... they were only trying to do the right thing," Felih murmurs quietly. "They didn't know they'd tip the balance so lethally towards the light, in pursuit of justice. And they gave everything to come back and stop the Flood- isn't that why this world still lives? It must be- people say that Minfilia was the one who stopped it, and they went with her..."

The mention of beating the answers out of him makes Felih puff up, though.

"Please don't," comes the rushed answer. "He's feeble and crystalline and I fear he'd truly shatter and leave us both without answers and also, stranded."

“How about I gently beat the answers out of him?” P’rihnn amends. “...I know, I know. But he’s asking a lot of us and giving nothing back.”

His tail flicks back and forth, tapping against the ground.

“When we get back to the Crystarium, maybe you should try and talk to him again. On your own. I think I’d just lose my temper... and it is you he wanted, not me.”

Felih gives another deep sigh, ears lowering.

"Yes. Perhaps I will," he says quietly. "If nothing else, to report that we killed a Lightwarden already. Perhaps he'll be more willing to share with us now that we've shown we're doing something?"

His tail swishes over the grass for a moment, before he stretches and slowly begins to stand. "...let's get heading back, then. At least they've still got aetherytes in this realm. I'm not in the mood to make the walk all the way back..."

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